A bright, fresh renovation awakens this contemporary home from its decades-long design slumber.
In the living room, an unadorned wall of windows and French doors showcases the home’s beautiful view.
Having lived in three different houses during their 17 years in Birmingham, Beth and Chandler Bailey had no intention of making it four. But when a real estate agent urged Beth to tour a nearby property about to go on the market, she couldn’t resist. If it wasn’t quite love at first sight, she was intrigued. Although the drama of the contemporary-style dwelling was blunted by dark walls and old parquet floors, Beth’s keen eye for design saw through to its potential.
Homeowner Beth Bailey punched up the minimalist space with sculptural pieces such as a mirrored ottoman and high-back armchairs upholstered in both leather and hide.
“What I like about contemporary style is clean lines and minimal stuff,” Beth says. “Even from the outside of this house, that really attracted me.” The Baileys bought the home and Beth soon found herself collaborating with builder Steve Varner and design-minded friend Richard Holman on a complete overhaul to transform the tired spaces into a light, luminous showplace.
In keeping with the pared-back look she craved, Beth chose sleek lines and quiet neutrals, punctuated by vivid notes in the accents and art. The white sideboard (above) in the foyer came with the house. Beth gave it her own stamp, affixing Asian-style embellishments that once surrounded the knobs on the home’s original front doors. Spirit stick artwork by Alabama artist Xander Booker lends a sense of height and, along with the triple-gourd lamp, a nod to Beth’s love of orange. “It’s my little orange corner,” she says.A mod ruffled light fixture, mounted over a tulip-style table and bargello-print chairs, forms the focal point of the dining area. “When it’s on at night, you can see it from the street, and the light and shapes it puts out look really cool,” Beth says. Frameless, floating cabinetry and boxy pendants help define the airy kitchen. The gently striated marble backsplash lends a whisper of movement and interest yet preserves the serene feel.
Select pieces from the Baileys’ previous house, such as the draperies and the navy-patterned armchairs, found a home in the master bedroom. A softly curved headboard offsets the angled geometry of the stylized campaign tables on either side. On the screened-in porch, a slatted wood wall offers both privacy and visual texture. For Beth, the home represents the endpoint in the evolution of her design sensibility, stripped down over the years to reach its sleek and simple essence. “I feel like this house is probably the first true expression of what my style is,” Beth says. “I definitely feel most at home here.”
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